drive / IDE controller questions

[Mark Terribile]

[Jerry McAllister writes]
> {Joey Mingrone writes]

>> I've been having problems with my western digital drive ...
>> The problem started out when I would randomly hear the drive restarting.  It

>> would make a high pitch sound... (The same sound the drive makes when you 
>> power on the system).  ... Eventually they would happen over and over ...
>> So now, I'm guessing the problem may lie with the controller on the main
>> board 

>Another early guess might also be overheating problems.  I am not sure how
>you would check other than trying to make it cooler.

One way to check heating is to take the cover off and put your hand on the
drive.  If it's too hot for your comfort, it's probably too hot for the drive's
comfort.  You want to let the machine run and then remove the cover and check
it quickly; airflow changes when you take the cover(s) off.  If that's the
problem, an extra fan in the right place can work wonders.

Don't exonorate cables too quickly; they can block airflow, especially if they
sag over time, or get pulled about by airflow.

I'm not familiar with the WD utilities; do they do surface scans?  If not,
is it possible that there are problems that either the controllers or FreeBSD
cannot handle, and that these are occurring as certain blocks are put into
service?  (But that wouldn't explain the failure on two drives?)

    Mark Terribile


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